Contact: Phineas_Redux@yahoo.com
—OOO—
Description:— Xena and Gabrielle, with help from some Viking friends, seek out and fight a legendary sea monster off the coast of Norway .
Disclaimer :— MCA/Universal/RenPics own all copyrights to everything related to ‘ Xena: Warrior Princess ' and I have no rights to them.
This is the 4th story in the ‘ Xena's Exploits ' series—
1. Xena and the Island Fortress.
3. Gabrielle on the Chalcis Ferry.
—O—
The flotilla consisted of three ships, two snekkja and a single skeid. The snekkja were standard Viking longboats, some 17 metres in length, two and a half metres in width, with a draught of around half a metre. There were twenty rowing benches, seating forty rowers. The skeid, on the other hand, was an altogether larger and more powerful concern. It measured some thirty metres in length, with thirty or so rowing benches and a crew of seventy to eighty. At the present time all three ships were rowing strongly out to sea, just off the mouth of Sognefjord, searching the rolling grey waves for their quarry.
“A Sea-Monster?” Gabrielle, standing at Xena's side mid-way between the rowing benches of the leading snekkja, pursed her lips contemplatively. “You an' I've seen our fair share of land monsters, an' supernatural monsters; but this'll be a first for us, I think.”
“Not for me, lady.”
“Oh, of course!” The blonde Amazon shrugged sarcastically. “The great Warrior's seen a whole boatload of such, I've no doubt. What you got up to in your lurid past really worries me at times, y'know. So, which of the many kinds of sea-monster catalogued by Aristotle, is this one?”
“Idiot!” The Warrior Princess was standing on the central planked walkway leading from end to end of the sleek fast-moving boat; the rowers sitting on either side, two to a bench. “That scroll of his was just meant t'be taken light-heartedly, as well y'know. Not that he didn't mention several of the real things.”
“This particular one being what?” Gabrielle raised an enquiring eyebrow. “Remember, I've just returned, by myself, from that jaunt t'those islands off the Northern coast of Britannia; that great land-locked windy bay. Gods, talk about gales, cold, an' rain! Y'don't realise—”
“Concentrate, Gab, for Aphrodite's sake. A Kraken.”
“A what?”
“Kraken.” Xena gave her trademark sneer, whilst running a hand through her long black hair, now blowing around her face in the gusty wind. “A sort'a mix between a squid an' a octopus, only much much larger—an' meaner, come t'that.”
“A bad-tempered octopus?” Gabrielle's laugh made a number of the nearby rowers glance at her with interest. “You, dearest, have just got'ta be joking.”
“Y'haven't heard the latest local news, havin' been away, Gabs.” Xena turned to gaze at the small blonde woman by her side; the shadow of a smile playing round the corners of her lips. “I missed your snappy repartee, this last month or so. Glad y're back.”
“Thanks, lover.” Gabrielle put out a hand to grip the warrior's wrist tenderly. “Same here. So, what about this monster, then? Tell me everything.”
“The locals, around Sognefjord, first became suspicious just under a month ago.” The black-haired warrior pursed her lips as she brought the details to mind. “A fishing longboat went out, an' didn't come back—”
“Might'a been a storm, or some kind'a accident with their boat.” Gabrielle always first sought the logical explanation in such circumstances.
“Yeah, but then a second longboat disappeared, only this time another boat picked up a single survivor—an' he babbled about their having being attacked by some sort'a giant monster.” Xena glanced down complacently at her listener. “That put the locals on guard right away. There've been all sorts of wild mythical tales in these parts about such things for centuries.”
Having left the protection of the mouth of Sognefjord, and now facing the open sea for the first time, the longboat began to react to the more powerful rolling surges. It cut through the waves with ease, but now rolled in the heaving swell of the open water. Thankfully Gabrielle, having been for some weeks familiar with the usage of other such open boats in her sojourn in the wild Northern islands of Britannia, still had her sea-legs and so was able to cope with the situation; much to Xena's relief.
“That ain't everything.” Xena cast a long glance out over the turbulent grey sea ahead, then turned to her companion with a grimace. “A few days later the sailors in the vicinity banded together, much as they're doin' now, an' went out into the deep sea thereaways with three longboats. I was on one.”
“ Ah-ha. ” Gabrielle looked up from tying the band of one of her sais tighter round her left boot, staring into Xena's face. “I smell trouble. So, wha'd'ya see?”
“It.”
“It? The Kraken, y'mean?” Gabrielle stood again, swaying slightly with the roll of the boat. “You saw the thing? Well, did it measure up to its legend?”
A few of the closest men sitting at the oar-benches could hear this conversation, and were making no bones about listening avidly. Even a sharp all-encompassing glance from narrowed sea-green eyes had no visible effect. Gabrielle snorted, and returned her attention to the tall black-haired Valkyrie by her side.
“OK, let's hear it.” She shrugged her bare shoulders, being dressed still in her lightest clothing—which, as usual, wasn't much; something she was already beginning to regret, glad that she had brought heavier wraps and cloaks in a deerskin satchel now laid somewhere safe and dry, she fervently hoped. “Gim'me the whole thing—only don't make it the twelve scroll epic version, please; a short résumé will be sufficient, darling.”
Rolling her eyes at this lack of enthusiasm and continued air of disbelief on the part of her loved and, if the truth be told, secretly revered partner, the Princess commenced to lay out the main details of the earlier voyage.
“They, the boats, were just three snekkja; no skeid that time.” Xena mused, as memory brought back the details. “We sailed some way further out into the sea than we've yet reached today. Then, without any kind'a warning, the sea heaved like a whirlpool; the water ran off the grey surface of the thing; an' there it was—the Kraken, as large as life, an' twice as angry.”
“Big, was it?”
“Big, darlin', don't measure up as a description in any way.” The Princess sneered coldly. “Bloody enormous. I couldn't count the tentacles; somewhere between eight an' fifteen, I think. It's body appeared to be roundish, grossly elongated, and covered in thick greyish scales. It was also very active; surging around in the water; throwing its tentacles in the air an' curlin' them about, like it was searching for its prey. Gods, it was big.”
“You said that already.” The Amazon Queen passed over this point superciliously, eager for the main course. “What about its eyes, an' mouth? An' did it make a noise? I mean, a roar, or whine, or growl, or hi—”
“I get'cha, give it up, girlie.” Xena was exasperated, but what could you do when it was such an ornery but beautiful blonde bombshell annoying the Hades out'ta ya? “No, no growl or anythin'. I think its mouth was some sort'a beak-like thing. Could tear a person in two with one snap, I'd say. Its eye? I only saw one, but it was huge; like a massive salver, those kind ya see at fancy banquets that can take a whole porpoise nearly. Very dark pupil, from what I glimpsed.”
“So, what happened?” Gabrielle looked enquiringly at her partner. “Lots of gore, was there? Sailors heaved into the ocean like ninepins; grabbed by its tentacles, an' thrown around like—like— er , like leaves in a storm. Bet it was nasty. When d'you think we'll see it today?”
“What happened was just what any self-respecting valiant Viking seaman or woman, or Warrior Princess, would normally do in such a circumstance, dear heart.” Xena's tone oozed sarcasm, like honey from a broken hive. “Wha'd'ya think happened, idiot! The first snekkja pulled round in record time an' made for home, closely followed by the second snekkja, who weren't fools either. The Gods'-damned snekkja I was on, the third, went in irons wouldn't ya believe—fell off the wind and lost propulsion. Took us a dammed long time to haul up an' catch the bloody breeze again. By which time, o'course, the dam' Kraken nearly had us for breakfast; but we were just too quick for it.”
“So what you're telling me is, all three boats—bung full of some of the most heavily-bearded eye-rollingly vicious-hearted Viking bastards this side of Valhalla,— turned tail an' ran like scared kids?”
“ er , yep.”
“You, too?”
“ er , yep, me too. Jeez Loui —I mean, er , for goodness sake, Gabrielle,—a bloody Kraken.” Xena attempted to sniff austerely but, to her chagrin, only made Gabrielle smile wider. “You've heard me tell ya often enough before—when in doubt, run like Hades. Well, that was one o'those times.”
“ Hiirph! ”
—O—
“ This is your plan?”
“Seems OK t'me. What's the problem?”
“Well, dear, lem'me recap.” The Queen of the Amazons heaved a sad sigh as she got to grips with the situation. “I thought I'd heard it all, in my short but adventurous reign as a glorious Queen, Princess ; but for sheer stupidity, mixed with crass idiocy, an' seasoned with unbelievable foolhardiness, this present suggestion o'yours takes the olive wreath hands down—no others need apply. Xena, have you actually, and verifiably, lost your mind?”
“ Gods , woman, it ain't that bad.” Xena threw her arms around wildly, like her words. “It's a plan. It's a dammed fine plan. Its about the best plan I've ever come up with, considering everything. What'cha complaining about? Just cos it don't match up to some girlie, beribboned Amazon plan y'think ya can berate it like—like— er , like yesterdays' ‘ Athenian Daily News ' scroll. What's your trouble. Ya just don't like it? Bit late now, seein' we're well out t'sea, lady. Why, got a better one? Oh Gods, bet ya ha—”
“As it happens, dear centre-of-my-heart, I can come up with something perhaps a minim more positive.” The twinkling smirk on Gabrielle's red lips held Xena spellbound. “So, what were you gon'na do? Let me see, what was it again? Oh yes, I remember—the skeid would race against the body of the beast; several Vikings would jump onto its vast heaving bulk, with you at their head; then, in a pincer movement, the two snekkja would come in from each side, cutting off tentacles as they advanced, till the Vikings on these boats could jump over an' join their companions—at which point a merry free-for-all tentacle-chopping competition would take place to see who'd literally finally win the Kraken disarming game? You, of course, being well to the fore and almost certain to win first prize by default. Have I got the details right?”
“Well, er , put like that there may be some loose ends needin'—”
“I'll say.” The Queen was ruthless in her logic. “The thing may be anything up to a quarter of a stadion long; perhaps more. It's about thirty paces wide, with an unknown number of extremely long remarkably sinuous tentacles. It heaves itself around on the surface like an eel on a line; an' the chances of one single Viking—includin' you, sister—remaining on its back for more than a breath and a half are remote; in fact downright impossible. Your plan, baby, stinks. Just sayin'.”
“The other side o'the scroll bein' what, then? Just askin', lover.”
The sea was still grey, and rolling deeply as long widely spaced waves strode across its surface. The three longships had just left the protection of the headland at Sognefjord's entrance; and the power of the open sea had taken hold of the vessels, making them roll from side to side more violently than ever. Standing by the tillers was a job for a strong person, while heaving on the long oars was incredibly difficult and tiring. Gabrielle and Xena stood at the bow of the leading snekkja; the skeid, its larger bulk a brown mass on the sea's surface, ran along half a cable's-length to starboard and slightly to their rear. Apart from a few birds diving for fish there was no other living object to be seen away to the far horizon.
“Well, you're goin' about the whole thing the wrong way.” The Amazon Queen nodded wisely at her own perspicacity. “You're tryin' t'attack an' kill it by overwhelming brute force, usin' manpower; that's all wrong. What'd be better would be standin' off, when it rises, and launching a harpoon assault; like as if it was just an enormous whale. That'd get results quicker, an' a dam' sight more safely, than your original plan. Wha'd'ya think o'that, lady?”
“Not much.”
“ Hey , that ain't nice.” Gabrielle was incensed, aiming a fiery glance at her critic. “It has logic—the thing's pretty much like a whale, so hunt it like one. It has safety—the men'll be on their own boats chasin' it, an' thereby not bein' thrown in the air by a tentacle the size of a tree-branch or torn in half by its beak-mouth. An' finally, results—usin' whalin' tactics'll end in the usual result, one dead whale; though this time it'll be the dam' Kraken. That's clearly a win-win plan if ever there was one.”
“You're forgettin' one important point, oh mighty Lady-of-Great-Ideas.”
“ Aha , an' what would that be? Come on, out with it. I feel like a good laugh.”
Xena, standing by the irate Amazon's side, paused to relish the moment; then made her play with a broad grin.
“These here hairy items o'manhood—I use the term lightly, y'understand,—all round us,” She was speaking in a lower voice than usual, in an attempt to keep their conversation private. “are pretty fair fighters, if mere brutality's your thing. An' they're great sailors; better sailors than fighters, if the truth be told. But what they ain't are whalers; I bet'ya a month's oiled back-rubs none o'the men on this boat, or the other two, have ever thought about harpooning a whale, never mind actually tried it.”
The beam of the longboat was not great, just affording room for two rowers on each side, with a boarded walkway at their waist level running from fore to aft. The prow curved up about a tall man's height, and the stern-post by the tiller stood equally high. About halfway along the boat there was a low hatch giving access to a small hold. There was enough space on deck for a spare yardarm for the mast, and another rolled up sail; each lying along the length of the boat, with the men, and Xena and Gabrielle, having to step over them as they moved up and down. Alongside these were also, as sharp Amazon eyes had not failed to notice, other items.
“ Ho-ho , iz'zat so?” The green-eyed one now pointed out these auxiliary articles with an expressive air of innocent enquiry. “In that case, what are those? No, it's OK, I know. Those, lady, are harpoons; two, to be exact. Two harpoons. So,—whatabout ‘em, eh?”
“ Er , er ,—”
“Lem'me see, what d'ya do with a harpoon?” Gabrielle was on fire, grinning broadly—she so loved gently needling her amour when occasion offered. “Oh, I know,—hunt whales. Well I never.”
“OK, give over, woman, for all the Gods' sakes.” Xena, on the other hand, always squirmed under this kind of attack by her loving better half. “So I thought they'd maybe be, um , useful—”
“ Ha! ”
“Yeah, well, y'never know.” Xena nearly whined in answer. “I'm just coverin' all the eventualities, that's all. If you're any kind'a a general y'got'ta cover the eventualities. So, that's it, y'see.”
Gabrielle by this time was torn between laughing out loud, and feeling sorry for her lover; the latter feeling won, so she stepped up to her tall friend and took a large hand in her much smaller petite grasp.
“There, there, don't cry. So which unsuspecting Viking hereabouts were y'goin' t'give the honour of—oh, I see now, you were goin' t'stick the whale, er , Kraken?”
“I was gon'na give it my best shot, yeah.” Xena looked down at her blonde lover, and found herself smiling tenderly. “Seemed like a good back-up plan.”
“Well, I suggest it be the first -up plan.” Gabrielle laughed affectionately. “Wha'd'you say?”
Xena scratched her chin industriously; looked out over the grey sea, as if searching for someone to give her own point of view support; rolled her head from side to side, as she did when having to think on the move; then, as was inevitable, surrendered.
“ Oh, Hephaistos! OK-OK, y'got it. Harpooning the damn thing it is. Satisfied?”
“ Yippee! Knew you'd see sense. Alright, lets figure out a campaign plan. This'll have t'be done with all the precision of a naval manoeuvre, y'know.”
“ Gods! ”
—O—
There was not so much difficulty in forming a plan, which included all three ships, as Gabrielle had at first thought might be the case. The other two vessels, as part of Xena's earlier preparations, had seemingly also shipped a couple of harpoons each. Over on the large skeid the captain in charge, Ragnhild Olafsdottir, had fallen in with the change of plans without argument. She, it appeared, had held the same reservations as Gabrielle; but had been,—surprisingly, for a Viking woman warrior,—too polite to voice them. Now, after the ships had come abreast of each other and closed to almost touch oars for a meeting and exchange of ideas, she readily fell in with the new plan. In fact she was overjoyed to find, as the largest boat with the most number of crew, Xena expected her to take foremost place in the coming attack. The captain of the other snekkja, the long-bearded Agnarr Hakonson, also agreed after some initial grumbling—but that was only his way. On board Xena's and Gabrielle's snekkja their captain, Elrik Thorkilson, was behind them completely; he still being a young relatively untried warrior, and determined to learn from his betters. The two snekkja forming, as previously planned, a pincer movement from port and starboard; though this time hauling off at a distance to throw their own harpoons at the great sea monster.
“Will these harpoons stick?” Gabrielle stood over one of the weapons, eyeing it critically. “I mean they're long, an' sharp, right enough—but will they stick in the Kraken's hide?”
“ Umph , we can only suppose it'll be much like a whale, that way.” Xena shrugged, with pursed lips. “Y'know, sort'a a layer of blubber, then thick flesh.”
“Didn't I hear some talk of scales? That don't sound promising.”
“When I saw it, from a distance an' in a heaving sea.” Xena grunted dismissively. “I admit there were scales, sure enough; but they just seemed kind'a fleshy an' soft. Nothin' like armour, I think.”
“ Mmmph .”
The trio of Viking boats pulled apart once more; forming a staggered line some cable's-length wide as they headed on out into the wide deep reaches of the dark grey sea. This was like coming home to the sea-faring Vikings aboard the vessels. They had years of experience under their belts in sailing to foreign lands; where, admittedly, they tended not to conduct themselves with perfect decorum on all occasions. But, as voyagers over vast distances of unexplored, rarely seen, and otherwise empty ocean expanses, they ruled unequalled and supreme.
After the ships had run on through the somewhat choppy seas for some time further, almost directly westwards, they were eventually well out of sight of the last vestige of Sognefjord's headlands, in the midst of the wild grey Northern Sea. The breeze was strong, though not excessively so; it needing to be really outrageous to worry the grizzled veterans aboard the ships, all of whom had spent their lives rampaging across such wild waters to other people's lands; where they generally let themselves loose and behaved with an unrestrained and gay abandon.
—O—
If any of the longships had stowed a clepsydra aboard it would now have been half-empty; while if they had been able to catch a glimpse of the sun, which they couldn't through the thick overcast cloud, it would have moved considerably across the firmament. In short quite a time had passed since the start of the voyage, and a particular aspect of bodily functions was now making itself felt on one of those present.
“Xena, where's the- ah ,—what d'we do about- umm ,” Gabrielle found herself lost for words. “I mean, I wan'na, er ,— Oh Gods , where're the, er , relieving facilities aboard this thing?”
The Princess tilted her head, the better to consider the question; then shrugged unconcernedly.
“There ain't any.” The black-haired bearer of bad news elaborated further. “All these guys are used to is unfastening their leggings; sitting wide over the bulwark, an' lettin' Nature take its course.”
“ What! ”
“Yep, that's about it.”
“That damn well ain't it, lady.” The Amazon was incensed. “If you think, for one fraction of an iota, I'm gon'na-gon'na—well, do that , in front of everyone, y'can think again, sister. Is there nowhere private aboard this wreck?”
The Princess waved an arm in a wide sweep and, as they were standing near the stern, this took in all the rest of the long narrow vessel.
“Look around, lady; what d'ya see?” The Warrior raised an eyebrow as she explained the realities of life. “One Viking longship; crew, thirty-seven; passengers, two; modern conveniences for relieving the body privately, zero; bulwarks, on either side, freely available at any time—if y'can squeeze between the rowers—for the necessaries of life, two; pick any spot y'fancy, girl, an' go to it—don't worry, no-one'll laugh; after all, their daily turn'll come too, all thirty or so of ‘em.”
The young blonde gave Xena a long cool look; turned slowly to glare fiercely along both sides of the packed boat; looked up to the top of the single, as yet sail-less, mast; then returned her attention to what she obviously considered the source of her discomfiture.
“Well, do somethin'.”
“ What! What?”
The blonde Amazon folded her arms across her splendid chest and began tapping her right boot on the deck, in a slow but steady rhythm; an action guaranteed to strike fear and terror into the heart of any passing Warrior Princess.
“ Do somethin'— Now! ”
Metaphorically taking the option of Life—over an only minimally hypothetical horrible protracted Death—Xena turned around in a circle several times; hunched her shoulders despairingly; opened and shut her mouth soundlessly; looked quickly at her Nemesis, then thought better of this dangerous act; and finally put her ass in motion and, over the course of the next hundred or so oar-strokes of the equally interested and harassed rowers, did something about it.
—O—
“That's better. See, it wasn't difficult at all.” The petite Harpy nodded contentedly, as she stood once more beside the Princess near the bow of the longboat some time later. “Knew you'd come up with a plan.”
What Xena had accomplished, against extensive and loudly proclaimed opposition from beleaguered Vikings on either hand, was a temporary shelter rigged across most of the port stern-quarter of the narrow ship. This annoyed both the rowers near the stern—whom the Warrior Princess firmly took away from their oars to hustle forward into the bows; Elrik Thorkilson making ineffective resistance the while; along with the crew handling the mighty tiller which directed the ship's course. She had brought up a number of wide blankets from the store in the small main hold and used these, hung across a cord tied at head height between the port and starboard aft-ropes tensioning the mast, as a screen. The temporary, and highly dubious, privacy which this flung-together barrier afforded finally gained, after some detailed examination, the Amazon's approval and—with a parting contemptuous glance at the now relatively distant Viking seafarers—she had repaired behind its protection to complete the daily functions of life.
—O—
“ Great Artemis! Amazons! What'll she want me t'do next?”
—O—
Some time later, nearer midday, there came a change in the weather. The earlier thick cloud rapidly dissipated on the strengthening breeze and the blue sky appeared, to cheer everyone up; all, anyway, who were in a mood to be cheered up, that is. By this time the flotilla had about reached the spot where the earlier confrontation with the sea-monster had occurred.
“Somewhere's aroun' here.”
“Y'sure?”
“Yep.”
“Really sure?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Cross your heart, an' offer a prayer t'Artemis sure?”
“Look, gal,” The mighty tall black-haired Princess turned slowly and menacingly,—though this, of course, had no effect whatever on her blonde companion who knew her inside out,—to face her complainant and tried to drag up a wild mean glare from the depths of her being; failing miserably, though she didn't realise it. “if'n y're unhappy with the route we're takin', why, babe, climb over the bulwark, an' take off on your own—no-one's stoppin' ya.”
“ Har-har —an' don't call me babe, doll.”
The argument which was now clearly about to erupt in all its glory, to the outright joy of the avidly interested nearby Viking rowers, along the lines of a hard-fought dialectic which would have delighted Socrates heart if only he had been around to hear it, was halted in its tracks, however, by a shout from a heavy-set heavily bearded Viking standing idly in the bow who had been enlivening his rowing break by staring vacantly into the middle distance in what was nearly a trance. But then things took off, bigtime.
“ Holy Loki! Great Loki an' Thor , an', an', an' all the rest o' the gang. Look'ee there—Look'ee there, I say!”
Brought up short by this wild cry, which was the most excitable action of any of the hirsute crew since the voyage began; much to Gabrielle's disappointment, who had been expecting great things of this band of semi-crazed hoodlums, everyone turned to gaze at the chap in question. He, in his turn, gazed back at the pack of uncomprehending faces regarding him, blushed heavily, though, of course no-one noticed because of the entangled thick shrubbery covering his features, and threw an arm out wildly, indicating most of the Northern Sea across to the horizon.
“Thar she blows! I mean, the dam' Kraken, about six cables-off, t'the Nor-West. See?”
Everyone, slightly stunned at this unexpected news, turned in the general direction indicated, and were all thrown in a heap metaphorically speaking as indeed, some way away over the dancing waves, a grey flattish bulk broke the surface to gleam dully in the sunlight. It was too big for a dolphin; it was too big for a bottle-nosed whale; it was too big for a sperm whale; it was too big for a blue whale, if there'd been any in that Northern Sea; it was not a Right whale; it was indeed, as the unshorn son-of-a-sea—er, Viking warrior, had so unmistakably realised, the Kraken itself. And clearly, going by its threshing motions allied with the excitable snakings and twistings of innumerable and fantastically long and strong tentacles, it was not a happy Kraken—then it saw them.
“ Thor! She's seen us; we're doomed! Doomed!” This from one of the more ostensibly brave of the crew.
“Stand Firm! I mean, sit tight at yer oars, yer bunch o'sissy's!” Their captain, Elrik Thorkilson, tried to exert his authority, but no-one took a blind bit of notice.
“Haul-off on the stern sheets! An' castigate the fore-yard!” This mystical nonsense from someone in the crowd, panicking spectacularly, as most Vikings do in a crisis.
“Dig in with the port oars; ease off on the starboard oars; head straight for her, men!” Xena, always with an eye to the main chance, took command effortlessly. “Come on, put your backs inta it! This is our chance. Ready the harpoons! What're the other ships doin'?”
“Followin' us.” Gabrielle, holding onto a mast halyard, put her hand to her brow, gazing across the intervening choppy water. “Both o'them have seen the thing, too. They're coming round t'engage the enemy— er , I mean, the Kraken. Gods, it's bloody huge! It can't possible be that big, surely?”
“Biggerer. I mean bigger than ya think.” Xena was otherwise engaged, balancing one battle-tactic against another. “ Hades , y'can see for y'self how big the dam' thing is!”
“Too big for us, sister.” Gabrielle, brave though she undoubtedly was, could also see reality when it slapped its gauntlet in her face. “Too big for all three of our boats. We ain't got a chance. Better break-off, an' go home, while we can.”
Xena took time from her lucubrations to sneer derisively at her companion.
“Y'sound more'n more like a Scythian every day, ducks.”
“ Hoi! ”
Faced with this rank and unfounded insult the blonde Amazon took the only course open to her; she stepped back and, with malice aforethought, kicked Xena's ankle—just on the part above the bone where it'd hurt most, and it did.
“ Aaargh! ” This warrior-snarl of pain, followed by an angry stare, would normally have curdled the blood of any foe responsible for the act in question—but slid off the Amazon's moral armour like rain off a thatched roof.
“Y'deserved it, lady.” Gabrielle tossed her head in triumph. “Now, are y'gon'na let Ragnhild, with her skeid, get there first? She's well ahead o'us at the moment, y'know.”
The necessities of action taking precedence, the warrior Princess reluctantly turned to the bigger picture again. Across the waves, but now significantly closer, and closing all the time, the Kraken was making speed towards the leading Viking ship, Ragnhild's large skeid, obviously intent on total destruction of same. Over to starboard the other snekkja, under Agnarr's command, was making valiant efforts to also beat Elrik and the women warriors' boat to the scene of action.
“ Great Artemis! ” Xena was disgusted by this sudden turn of events. “Always the slowest ship in the dam' fleet! Why can't I ever pick the fastest, eh? Elrik! Get these sleepy sea-dogs movin', can't ya!”
Stung into action by this blast of invective, and their captain's similar unnecessarily personal remarks, the rowers bent forrard over their oars and finally did put their backs into it, apart from the occasional crab here and there. It was obvious Elrik's ship had no chance now of reaching the scene of turmoil first; but they would, at least, be a close second, Agnarr's vessel seemingly having undergone a disaster in the rowing line after two of the monster's long-extended tentacles had thrashed across the port side of the longboat, leaving its broken oars flailing wildly all over the place.
“ Ha! ” Elrik was jubilant. “Agnarr couldn't captain a child's boat on a play-pond, Ha-Ha! Snooks t'him!—I mean, put yer backs inta it, fer Odin's sake; look, the dam' Kraken's twiddling its thumbs waitin' fer us.”
There did indeed seem to be a great deal of commotion around the area where Ragnhild's great skeid and the sea-monster were converging. The sea began to thresh, as if in the throes of a wild storm; waves churned the surface in boiling white rage; and all three vessels began tossing wildly on the heaving water. The long tentacles of the Kraken, now visible close-up to the sailors, seemed gigantic in length and thickness; apparently more numerous than was feasibly likely, twisting obscenely high in the air; sucker-like protuberances visible all along their undersides, the tips snapping like whips. The whole monster appeared of a grey-like colour, with the consistency of a whale, but somehow much stronger and muscular. Every so often a gleaming black eye rose from the almost volcanically active water to study its targets before slipping below the surface once more. That the creature had a plan seemed obvious from the way it suddenly made straight for Ragnhild's ship, tentacles threshing the water and air all round more wildly than ever.
“ Gods! Energetic thing, ain't it?” Gabrielle paused to draw a hand over her sweating brow. “Maybe y'd better get on up t'the bow with that dam' harpoon, Xena. An', for all the Gods' sakes, make it count.”
The Princess didn't need further persuasion, but darted forward, leant down to pick up the long steel spear in one flowing movement and carried on, jumping lithely over various obstacles in her way, till she stood tall and proud at the bow, harpoon balanced above her right shoulder, the tip glinting in the sunlight.
Meanwhile the sea-monster had made contact with the second of its attackers; Ragnhild's heavy powerful skeid. Even with all its weight and forward impetus the ship was suddenly brought to a standstill as several of the enormous tentacles whipped across, wrapping themselves round the top of the single mast and part of the bow. The skeid seemed to encounter some underwater obstacle at the same moment, as if riding up on an unseen reef. The bow slid out of the water several body-lengths, and the whole boat keeled over to starboard, before righting itself in a wash of churning water as it slid backwards from its foe. The boat bounced up and down in the aftermath of the first assault, rolling unrestrained from side to side so that the whole deck, with its seated crew, could be seen on each heave. Without waiting for its enemies to regroup the monster stretched out its arms to attack once more; but by now Elrik had brought his snekkja up on the Kraken's nearside.
Though both Ragnhild's and Elrik's vessels were heaving and dashing themselves around in the boiling sea both harpooners stood to their positions. In Ragnhild's ship she herself, living up to all the legends of her race, held firm with flowing hair; facing the monstrous sea-animal and steadfastly awaiting her chance. In Elrik's ship Xena, cold, hard, calm as ice, gripped the mighty weapon over her head, teeth bared in a wild grin which Gabrielle knew all too well.
Just at that moment the tall mast on Ragnhild's ship cracked like a twig, at least three huge tentacles wrapped around it. It fell overboard on the port side, the energy involved making the skeid roll even more sickeningly before righting itself again. But this disaster had been accompanied by the equal and opposite effect of taking the majority of the creature's grip from the vessel, leaving Ragnhild a single opportunity to aim at the vast body of the beast as the sea churned all round and over it. Taking her chance she picked a seemingly soft spot as near as possible to the cold black eye, now visible above the water for a few moments, and threw her harpoon.
On Elrik's ship too Xena, now able for the briefest instant to see the beast clear of its tentacles, which had slid aside to wave in the air closer to Ragnhild's ship, took her own chance and threw her harpoon with immense strength straight at the heaving grey steel-coloured back of the raging monster.
Just as Ragnhild's weapon hit the creature below its eye, Xena's also hit high on its back, close to where some sort of spine might have been expected to lie. The monster was obviously not impervious to such an attack, as it immediately threshed around wildly, tentacles waving in distress in all directions, as if for the moment uncoordinated; while its body heaved and rolled in the wild seas like a dark-coloured iceberg; creating heavy waves that washed over and into both vessels, swamping the crews indiscriminately.
“You four, grab those buckets an' start bailing fer all our lives.” Elrik, faced with danger and imminent death, showed himself to be a fine Viking; taking command of the escalating drama with a cold determined voice which brought the crew together as a team on their imperilled vessel, rocking and bouncing on the raging sea all round. “Gabrielle, does Xena need that second harpoon?”
Without waiting to reply the Amazon dashed along the debris-strewn and nearly water-logged central walkway. She paused and bent to grab the weapon, lying now a hands-width underwater; but had just wrapped her cold fingers round it when something curled round her body, wrapping itself round her —one of the monster's tentacles.
It was just the tip of a vast long arm, but it was still nearly the thickness of her own body, and the suckers seemed to grip her bare skin at her waist in an iron hold. She was dragged over on her back, losing her footing entirely, finding that however hard she tried she just couldn't bend down to reach one of her sais. As she began to feel the tentacle, curiously dry and rough to the touch, beginning to tighten its grip, making her gasp for breath, a shadow danced across her face, a heavy leather boot stamped down with a splash on the deck near her arm and then she heard that oft-sounded warcry wailing out, like a mad banshee—
“ Aaa-lalalalala! ”
She actually felt Xena's sword stab into the flesh of the beast, slicing through its cartilage-hard skin and underflesh; then the warrior pulled it free again, to the accompaniment of a gush of dark red blood which covered Gabrielle like a black wave. There was a final painful tug on her waist, then the tentacle had withdrawn and a strong hand gripped her upper arm to pull her to her feet once more; gasping for breath and feeling like retching with the smell of the creature's blood all over her.
“ Gods , that was close, thanks.”
“Nah, nuthin to it.” Xena grinned her unhinged war-grin. “You'd a'pulled free yourself, easy. I just thought I'd come an' offer a helpin' hand. That harpoon for me? Yeah? Why thanks, see ya—keep steady.”
Before Gabrielle had hardly regained a solid footing on the still wildly rocking deck the Warrior Princess had reached the bow again. Across the threshing, white-capped sea Ragnhild's boat was once more at the centre of the action. The Kraken had clearly decided to take her enemies down one by one; Ragnhild, with her heavier vessel, constituting the greater primary danger. The skeid had been thrown side-on to the monster when its mast had gone by the board; but now the Viking rowers had brought her head round to face their foe again and Ragnhild had another harpoon in her hand. Almost as if in concert the women raised the weapons high over their heads and threw them at virtually the same moment.
Ragnhild's struck the Kraken much nearer the baleful cold eye which, now high out of the water as the monster had heaved itself above the surface, could be seen more clearly. The first of her harpoons was still embedded in the thing's flesh, about a body's-length below the eye. Her second hit half that distance to the port side of the same eye, and instantly seemed to cause the sea-beast immense pain. Tentacles waved overhead, and on and under the sea-surface. The long Viking boat thrashed up and down as if pushed and pulled by a Titan's hand; which was not so far from the reality. Then Xena's harpoon hit with un-erring aim.
Having sized up the distance, the wind, the overall thrashing of the wild seas all about, and knowing her own strength, the Princess had drawn in a lungful of salt-tainted air, paused infinitesimally, then thrown the long heavy weapon. It sailed through the air like a silver streak, arcing high above the boats and the monster itself. Then flashed down to strike what appeared to be the very edge of the vicious creature's eye.
Instantly the whole area became the scene of nightmares. The sea surface boiled and heaved as if a mighty volcano was blowing its top just under the surface. Waves crashed in every direction, unfettered by wind or current. The animal's tentacles reached high in the air, curving and threshing along their lengths appallingly. The creature's body, only the smallest part of which, like an iceberg, was actually above the surface, threshed the water in its throes into wild uncontrolled motions which threw all three Viking vessels around like childs' toys on a pond. Then, leaving the vicinity of Ragnhild's boat, it came directly for Elrik's; obviously insanely frenzied, and mad as Ares on an off-day.
Before Elrik, or even Xena, could take any defensive action the body of the monster hit their boat, like a hard and rock-bound coast trapping a vessel in a storm. The ship stood still in an instant, throwing down all those of the crew who had managed in all this drama to hold on their feet, including Xena.
Tentacles wrapped themselves round the body of the mast, the bows, and the central part of the low-bulwarked boat. Tearing and cracking of wood could be heard even above the wild storm of the surrounding waves and sheets of water flying in all directions. Before Xena could rise to her feet she heard the mast go, ducking her head just in time to avoid the stump of the lower part as it whipped across the deck before crashing, like a mighty oak in the forest, into the waiting wild seas. The curved up-lifting prow smashed apart under the grip of at least three tentacles, pulling the bow down into the wild seas and letting masses of water flood across the interior of the boat. Another tentacle, apparently now immune through pain to Xena's sword blows, pulled with immense strength at the port bulwark. Xena, finding stabbing was useless, stepped back, slipping heart-thumpingly on the wet deck, then turned to slash at the grey tentacle. Gabrielle appeared at her side, gasping for breath, with blood running down her left cheek from a slight cut just above her left eye and weighed in with both her sais—but still the monster seemed now determined to exact revenge whatever the pain suffered. The bulwark finally gave way and a large proportion of the side deck went with it, allowing the churning seas to flow in unhindered.
“We're gon'na sink, Xena.” The Amazon glanced quickly at her companion, through the haze of rain-like seawater whipping cuttingly in the wind across the already sloping deck. “Think we'd better find somethin' t'hang onto in the sea. Agnarr's coming up now, see? Gods! Look at that! Uugh! ”
Her horrified reaction was occasioned, as Xena discovered on turning her head to look in the direction of Gabrielle's pointing arm, by a tidal wave of liquid which was as black as Hades' leather jacket. It was not sea-water, but appeared to be full undiluted dark blood from the creature as it continued threshing madly, the harpoon wounds obviously finally taking effect; though its tentacles still waved obscenely in the air and on the surface of the torn waves.
At that moment the snekkja gave up the ghost and settled down to disappear below the waves. Before either warrior could take stock of the situation they were threshing around, along with the remainder of the Viking crew, in the polluted disgustingly oily water themselves, kicking out to keep their heads above the surface. Not an easy task, with heavy boots and the state of the seas.
“Ditch your boots, Gabrielle. Hear me? Dump your boots, quick.”
Having come to this life-saving decision on her own account the Amazon was already bending into a knife-like curve; disappearing below the surface to reach out for the dangerous items of clothing, her lungs full of a mixture of salty air and plain sea-water. Keeping her calm even so, she took time to haul both sais from their straps and place them in wide leather loops at her waistbelt made solely for this purpose. Then she dragged off each boot, before punching her head above the surface again to haul in a much-needed deep breath.
Xena trod water beside her and gave a reassuring grin, now lacking her earlier berserk tone; then splashed with her hands, trying to circle round in the still stormy sea.
“The thing's gone. Its submerged. I think it might'a made its escape.”
“Y'think so?” Gabrielle spat out a mouthful of water as she too looked about. “ Gods , all I can see is bloody water. Water, water everywhere. Wait a mo', is that a boat over there?”
“Yeah, it's Agnarr.” Xena hazarded a waterlogged chuckle. “Late for the party; but just in time t'save us all. I think Ragnhild's boat sank as well.”
“ Shit! What'll happen if the dam' Kraken comes back for afters?”
“I don't think it will.” Xena came close and put an arm round Gabrielle's neck. “I fancy it's had enough. Gone off t'lick its wounds, y'know.”
“ Gods , hope so.” Gabrielle shook her head and put up her hand to wipe wet hair from her face. “This is not the way I wanted our day t'end. Is anyone injured? How many were killed?”
At this juncture the remaining snekkja came up; only the stern oars being plied so that survivors could safely clamber aboard further forward. Both women took the offered opportunity and were soon standing on a solid surface once more; even though it was still rolling horribly in the disturbed sea. Agnarr himself came forward to greet the women.
“Great day for a fight.” The tall solidly-built and, of course, heavily bearded man chuckled deeply. “Sorry I couldn't lend my weight after the dam' Kraken buggered my oars; but, anyway, these rowers o'mine have about as much idea of how t'use ‘em as a Roman Matron.”
“What's happened?” Xena glanced across the stormy waves, to where a number of groups of heads and waving arms could be seen on the surface at various points. “What's the damage?”
“Unbelievably, I don't think anyone's been actually killed.” Agnarr shook his mighty head in some disbelief at his own words. “Not, as t'say, to actually shake hands with Odin, an' ask fer a warm corner in Valhalla, that is.”
And indeed when the rest of the survivors, milling about in the cold sea and growing ever more effusive and sarcastic with waiting, were all finally brought aboard the now seriously overloaded snekkja it was found there were no absentees, staggering as it seemed.
“ Great Freya! ” Ragnhild brushed her soaked brown locks aside on reaching the safety of the deck, after her crew had gone before her, and glanced at the two warrior-women standing beside her. “What a fight. What a Gods'-awful monster. D'ya think we killed the dam' thing?”
“Probably not, but we certainly gave it somethin' t'think about for a while.” Xena grunted low in her chest. “Sorry your boat sank.”
“Yeah, glad no-one was hurt.” Gabrielle added her own strongly-felt appreciation.
“Oh, it came t'nothing in the end; just another overgrown whale.” Ragnhild tried a smile, but could only produce a pale imitation. “Not that I'd jump at the chance t'do it again, y'realise.”
“Yeah, I second that, lady.” Gabrielle nodded in agreement, looking at her love the while. “Though I got an idea there's certain warrior-women, not a million parasangs from where we stand right now, Ragnhild, who're already champin' at the bit for another go at the dam' thing. To which my reply is nix, nope, no, never, an' think again, lady.”
“Oh, come on, Gabs. It's just another monster.” Xena, impelled to defend these supposed plans of hers for the future; which weren't too far from the actual fact, took an imperious stand. “What's wrong with havin' another go? What? I ask ya!”
Gabrielle glanced at Ragnhild, who returned her dubious look with added interest—this quiet revolution not escaping the sharp eyes of the beleaguered Princess.
“Come on, what d'ya both have against it?” Xena sneered coldly, almost the single most definitive mistake she could possibly have made—Gabrielle having her pride, and a very short and volcanic temper when riled. She was now riled.
“ Oh? What have I got against a clearly hopeless an' idiotic plan that only a dead sheep could possibly think of as being in any way viable?” The blonde Amazon could be amazingly imaginative with language when heated to boiling point. “Well lady, lem'me tell you. Firstly—”
—O—
Overloaded, seriously damaged in every part of its structure during the fight with the Kraken, even though it had been for the most part on the fringes of the affair, Agnarr's snekkja finally gave up the struggle and handed in its dinner pail later that afternoon, just after coming up with the outlying headlands of Sognefjord.
There were, however, several fishing boats in the vicinity so the majority, in fact all, of the crew and survivors of the three Viking war-boats were quickly dragged, for the second time that day, from the wet clutches of the dark green seas. The single exceptions were Xena and Gabrielle, still at loggerheads with each other over their respective ideas of what constituted common-sense regarding a second encounter with the fabled Kraken. Howsoever it turned out, whether a couple of possible rescuers in their fishing vessels heard them arguing fifteen to the dozen even while thrashing around in the water and terrified by the fruity and unrestrained language and threats being unrestrainedly bandied about by both contenders surreptitiously declined to come any closer, can not now be ascertained. Suffice it to say that, ages after the rest of the survivors were well on their way to landfall and a welcome mug of hot wine, Xena and Gabrielle were still sitting on a wide hatch-cover, dangling their feet in the water and continuing their argument without thought of taking prisoners on either side.
It was actually eleven stadia to landfall at the entrance to the fjord—and as was only to be expected the Warrior Princess, through assiduous paddling, accomplished the first four of these by herself before, as she inadvertently let slip vocally at the time, Gabrielle joined in to hinder her for the rest of the way.
They did share the same bed that evening; but it was one of those occasions in which a certain amount of recrimination was wholeheartedly reciprocated for the first night-watch or so. You'd have thought that two women in bed together; two naked women in bed together; two naked women who loved each other to the very heart of their entwined souls in bed together; would have had other things on their minds—but they were both determined, tenacious, and perhaps a little self-centred—just the slightest little bit—and had matters of import to discuss with their co-respondent, and they did so in a firm and frank manner. Oh, alright—they had a flaming row that lasted past midnight and sent both Elrik and Ragnhild, who were in nearby rooms, hurrying downstairs to a distant part of the Inn to escape the noise and grossly unseemly epithets being bandied to and fro during the ongoing fracas.
Finally it was only the unexpected advent of the full moon in all its glory, lighting with its silvery rays the embarrassingly messy bedchamber, that brought a halt to the domestic squabble. Eventually, bathed in a wash of pale light which accentuated her blonde hair and even hinted delicately at the green of her eyes, it was Gabrielle who spoke first; in a more restrained controlled manner than she had hitherto been employing.
“ Oh Gods , I love you, Xena. Love you, love you, love you. Sorry, sorry, sor—”
Xena didn't say anything at all—she leaned over, grasped the slight but muscular frame of her beloved in a gentle though iron grip and hugged her close. Her lips touched Gabrielle's gently but insistently—giving all the reply that was necessary to the blonde apologetic Amazon.
A large part of the rest of the night, for both women, was eagerly and passionately taken up with making clear their earlier altercation had been a mere thing of no substance, and that more important matters held sway—and would do so inexorably in the face of all future problems to come, whatsoever they might possibly be.
Sometime in the early hours of the still dark morning, when the moon was low in the purple depths of the sky, they had only a few exhausted words for each other.
“Gabrielle, you are the heart of my life. I can't live without you.”
“Wherever you go, lover, we go together. I'll always be with you, Xena, always.”
The End.
—O—
To be continued in the next instalment of the ‘ Xena's Exploits' series.
—OOO—